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Rabach Preps, Just in Case ...

Center Casey Rabach said he is expecting his close friend Jon Jansen to play Sunday -- "He's as boneheaded and tough as they come," Rabach said but expressed confidence in youngsters like Stephon Heyer and Chad Rinehart even if Jansen, who sprained his medial collateral ligament Sunday night, were to join Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels on the sideline.

Losing both veteran tackles would rattle any team, especially one of the cusp of letting its season slip away, but Rabach, the nerve center of the offense, said he would work hard to get the kids ready, if need be.

"I'm really not that worried about these two guys coming in," Rabach said. "We're gonna be all right."

Rabach is taking a lot of the responsibility for communication problems the team had Sunday night, and is addessing issues that could exist should Heyer and tackle/guard Rinehart have to join the mix. Getting everyone properly aligned and set is imperative.

...

Dan Steinberg chatted up Justin Geisinger, who hadn't taken a turn at tackle in, oh, five years.

"I've got to do a better job of making sure everybody understands everything," Rabach said.

Veteran tackle/guard Jason Fabini said he is not worried about where he plays, or how soon he finds out whether he will be called on this week. Fabini would be given the first crack to start in Jansen's place, Zorn said, with Rinehart (who says he has recovered from getting his confidence rocked at the end of the preseason) and Devin Clark, just promoted from the practice squad, also battling to get in the mix.

Fabini has been inactive almost all season and has not played tackle for the Redskins after being converted to guard last season, though he has been getting practice reps with the scout team at tackle in case of an emergency.

"It doesn't matter at this point," Fabini said when asked about getting a heads up about where he will play.

Greg - Cowher is coming back. Listen to Charlie Casserly. He works in the SAME EXACT studio as Cowher on Sundays. Cowher is spoonfeeding him info and Casserly always includes Cowher as HC canidates for next year.....

Clevland may want Schottenheimer back....

Norv isn't going anywhere....

Jason Garret still is HC in waiting @ Dallas....

I'm starting to believe this was an effort to get Cowher next year. Zorn has been set up to fail. He is not a HC right now and looks overwhelmed......

Greg - Philly WCO offense sucks. They were winning the NFC East when the East was down and out in the early 2000s. Actually, the whole NFC was down and out during the early 2000s. They never won a SuperBowl so why use them as a measure?

Can someone ask me one damn question? Why are they refusing to give the kids a chance to play? If Fabini was any damn good he would have been active at some point during the season. I just don't understand this staff.

so let me get this straight, people want to pull the plug on Zorn, after only 1 season, just to bring in cowher, who is gonna put in his systems, and take 2-4 years to get his type of guys in place. So from now till 2012, you're not going to have any problems with losing seasons every year....am I hear that right??

Posted by: BeantownGreg | December 8, 2008 3:45 PM | Report abuse

It doesn't have to take 2-4 years Greg. The Fins returned only 24 of last year's roster. But you DO need a shrewd GM and plenty of draft picks - preferably other people's - and for that, we Miami fans thank you next year and San Diego (for Chris Chambers) this year. :)

so let me get this straight, people want to pull the plug on Zorn, after only 1 season, just to bring in cowher, who is gonna put in his systems, and take 2-4 years to get his type of guys in place. So from now till 2012, you're not going to have any problems with losing seasons every year....am I hear that right??

If Cowher comes here, and I still say its beyond a long shot because Cowher's ego and Danny's ego won't work together, I'm all for it. Cowher is competent and, aside from Schottenheimer, its been since Gibbs 1.0 since we've had a competent HC.

My guess is that Cowher brings in his own GM -- and it could be Casserly -- wherever he goes. The big difference btwn Gibbs return and Cowher is that Cowher has not left the game to do other things. He's still very up to date on personnel and who is doing what in this league.

Unless we are talking Cowher, however, I can't see any reason to fire Zorn. Zorn has this team playing at roughly the level of the talent he has, given the injuries he has.

Former Browns/Chiefs/Redskins/Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer responded on Monday to an ESPN report linking him to the looming vacancy in Cleveland.

During an interview with Adam Schein of Sirius NFL Radio, Schottenheimer said, ”I don’t ever say ‘never’ if I don’t have to but I don’t see it as being likely. . . . I really don’t. I’ve made a major change in my life and, again, the only thing I always say, Adam, as a caveat, I don’t ever make a decision if I don’t have to and thus I haven’t made one.”

If Schottenheimer returns to the game, he might be doing it in part to wash the bad taste of his most recent experience out of his mouth. “That was an anomaly,” he said of his tenure with the Chargers, which saw him fired after a 14-2 season. “That was an aberration. That was particular to the organization. . . . My issues in San Diego were because of the people in the front office that I could not interact with.”

Schottenheimer also said that he doesn’t need complete control over the roster, although in our view it was the lack of such control that set the stage for his troubles with Chargers G.M. A.J. Smith.

And Schottenheimer wouldn’t rule out assuming a Bill Parcells-type role, possibly in a situation that would allow him to work with protege Bill Cowher.

“Bill and I have remained very very close friends throughout our NFL careers and it goes back to when he was a player and I was an assistant,” Schottenheimer said. “I would be less than candid if I didn’t say that that is, at the very least, intriguing. But there are so many movable parts there it would be like a Rubik’s cube.”

As much as it hurts....Jasno was right to criticize this organization...from the F/O, Draft, Selection of H/C, pessimism regarding the 6-2 start, and also fuming about the lack of O-line and D-line talent and depth.
Zorny needs to understand that it IS his scheme which sucks...NOT execution and blah blah blah. MAN UP ZORN!!! Stop blaming the players and blame your own ROOKIE ass. He put the back up center at left tackle before he figured out Heyer should be there!!! Its Zorns job to take care of this, NOT Bugal.
This team was decent when we won a few games early on, but the league quickly figured out our Major Weaknesses (O-line and depth at Receiver), and started exploiting it. We peaked too soon and it seems the team has all but lost hope in Zorn. The Sellers interview last night showed it all. It also doesnt help when zorn keeps throwing his workhorses under the bus.
Bring in Cowher...if not...Zorn needs a few pointers on how to keep players on his side...talk to Gibbs about that son.

The Redskins for some reason, have never been a WCO style of club. Even in the days when Air Coryell was the fad and Joe Gibbs was hired, Gibbs soon learned (after 5 straight losses) that it just did not fit this team. He changed, he adjusted and the myth of the Hogs and smash mouth football arose. Gibbs and Bethard analyzed the competition and realized that you had to beat the Giants to win the division and to do that you had to have a dominant run game. The NFC East when it is an elite division has been a very physical division. Gibbs at his supreme height was a run, run, run, run, long bomb for TD coach. He would have loved the Ravens last drive.

Gibbs 2.0 tried to recreate the past but failed because he did not invest his first draft in the offensive line. The offensive line that he tried to build through free agents, Jansen and Samuels was never as good as what he once had known. Secondly, Portis was a back who was heralded as a the 'score a touchdown on any play' kind of back but that never happened as advertised either. The big bruising, run you over type of back has not shown up in DC for too many years now. Riggins used to get his yards in a huge surge of the line and him. It seemed that he would be stopped but the whole mass of humanity would grind forward, inevitably, making first downs.

So what am I trying to say? Simply that the WCO may work here at some point, but it will take twice as long to implement it as anyone thought. Is it worth it, to change the culture of this team to do that?
The WCO is going to require pass blocking linemen first, and the good surging type of Hog second. Is the WCO a ball control type of offense? Not in this configuration. Will it work against a resurgent Giants and Dallas defense? Not at this rate. How long is long enough to measure whether this WCO will be a success or a failure?

It won't matter who the coach is unless the FO gets it's act together. Zorn looked great when his players were healthy and fresh. Now the two older lines are banged up, and suddenly he can't do anything right.

Teams that are good year in and year out have "big uglies" in their primes. There was a time when this franchise traded for Jim Lachey, not T.J. Duckett and Brandon Lloyd.

Man you guys are tough and impatient. Give Zorn a chance. Did you know Bill Parcells was 3-12-1 his first season? Belichick was 5-11 his 1st year as Patriot Coach. Chuck Noll was 1-13. Bill Walsh 2-14.

I would just like to point out to all those badmouthing Zorn and calling for his head that he's playing with the hand that was dealt him when he was hired...Joe Gibbs players...not those selected to run HIS offense HIS way. That goes for both sides of the ball. Cut him some slack until he can get his kind of players in here. Then if he falls on his face you can condemn him all you want.

i posted something similar to this on anther blog, but it probably pertains to this one more
snyder should sell this team to someone w/ patience...
if zorn is out next yr, it will be another aweful outlook even w/ cowher
this stuff never works with dan snyder
cowher is great and i'll take him, but getting the biggest hc never works for the skins...the only thing that is consisent is that the skins have sucked since danny boy came to town
i say we petition for him to leave and take cerrato w/ him..that guy is god aweful
go to basics...good hc and a gm and snyder out allows for a rebuild
we have good players, it is a shame to see guys like moss and portis play their hearts out only to realize they will not go to the superbowl w/ the skins
at first i hated the zorn project, but then kind of liked the underdog thought
you gotta give people more than 1 year especially if he is trying to do west coast and skins line is build for smash mouth
SNYDER GET OUT